NO Bean Smokey Chili

So, yesterday after reading all the Fall To Do Lists and pumpkin recipes on the blogosphere, I couldn't help but have a hankerin for something Fall...and seeing as it is actually Fall here in Maine, the cold weather lent itself nicely to a Fall induced Chili Craving.

The funny thing about chili is that it's usually loaded down with beans...and sadly, I'm not much of a bean girl. Like, I hate them. All kinds: kidney, black, refried, lima... you name it, I cringe at the thought.

With that being said, it took some major Pinterest research to find a bean free Chili recipe that didn't require two thousand ingredients and 14 trips to the grocery store.
Finally (and thankfully), I stumbled upon this recipe from This Gal Cooks.

After a few tweeks, I whipped up this little number:

After a quick once over, the recipe seemed reasonably doable and while it took me forever to find those damn chipotle peppers in adobo sauce at my local Hannaford's, the rest of the grocery list was pretty simple and store brand/budget friendly.

In all honesty, this recipe was super easy to make...you basically brown the hamburger with the chopped onion and jalepeno and then dump the rest of the ingredients into the pot.

I was surprised that the recipe called for cocoa powder!

Here's a tip for choosing the beer that you use in the chili: make sure that it's one that you like because you'll only need half a cup...and you'll want to finish the rest while your hard work is simmering away on the stove!

I chose a locally brewed Maine IPA....delicious!

You don't even have to bother with any particular order of the dumping and to be honest, I didn't even bother to measure the spices before I tossed the into the pot.

The recipe also recommends that you simmer the Chili for at least an hour - I wasn't sure when the boys were coming home so mine ended up simmering for close to 2 and a half hours...and it was just as delicious as the batch I taste tested an hour in!

YUM!! I can't wait to make my first batch of chili for the fall. I wish it was just cool down already!! We love to add fritos, cheese, and sour cream to our chili! And I love jiffy cornbread! My mom makes this stew and she always pairs it with jiffy cornbread. The cornbread is sweet which offsets the spicy stew. Deeeelicious!

Yes I LOVE this. I'm also a no-bean eater, and everyone always looks at me like I'm crazy. It's something about the texture. Blech. My husband makes the best no-bean chili, and the recipe actually looks super similar to this one. We do add some elbow macaroni and use ground turkey. When I was on WW, a huge bowl would be like 4 points, then I would add some saltines, and I was stuffed. If it wasn't 96 degrees here today, I would totally be asking him to make it for me. :)